Fully Digital

The state of going all digital in console gaming

It all started with Youtube.

When gamers found a medium to show their collection of games from the past, I instantly regretted all the games I sold when I was a kid. From my collection NES, SNES, PS1, Gameboy, Gamegear and Sega Saturn games. Sold all of them including the consoles. My 13 year old me was thinking that newer is always better. Hence, a fire sale for my games without blinking.

Fast forward to 2006. James Rolfe a.k.a. AVGN started reviewing bad retro games. He was and still is a Youtube star. I thought to myself, ” I had all the games he has!” And now, he is earning from his collection and still adding to it. Then the boom of “Retro Gaming” started. Every Youtuber that reviews retro game in their collection are getting famous. You’ll see them showing their collection in the background. They pride in collecting hard copies of the game. And made money out of it. Easy money and easy fame.

Then comes the 7th Generation of consoles (PS3, XB360 and Wii. Wii U is still debatable if its part of the generation). They are still making hard copy of games, but started opening up their own digital stores. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo discovered that digital games are cheaper since no manufacturing was involved. They were still pushing for hard copies of their games since the speed of the internet was not as fast right now. Games with small size were downloadable even with the speed of 512 kbps.

And then, Lord Gable (founder of Valve and hater of the number 3) changed how we purchase games for PC.

Steam, a web store for PC games. They sell games with prices more cheap than a loaf of bread. Steam basically eliminated physical copies of games (and piracy). They can sell it cheap, and they can store your purchases until the end of time. PC games all became digital copies. Try to visit a video game store, and their PC games only has a box with a digital code to use for download. DVD drives became obsolete. The PC master race became the lord of gaming. Console gaming was taken aback. They knew they have to compete. But they also know people loves to get a physical copy no matter what.

And now, with the 8th generation of console gaming, going digital is now viable and widely accepted. Digital copies almost has less than 20-50 percent cost compared to physical copies. With out manufacturing, cost is down and owning it for a lifetime is possible since it is not something that can break. And with speeds of the internet now going to the GBPS rate, downloads are almost instant. The 3 console giants are now opting and offering digital games more and more. Case in point: The new Xbox One S All Digital Edition.

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To be continued